403: Forbidden - Naturism

This article originally appeared in (the now defunct) Internet
Underground magazine for June 1997. "403: Forbidden" is (was) a
column devoted to topics that are often taboo in "mainstream" media
but have been able to receive more sympathetic attention on the Web.

Have you ever met a nudist? You almost certainly have, because they are
among your friends, neighbors, and co-workers, though you are likely not
aware of it. Nudists generally don't go naked where you might see them,
nor do they tend to advertise their presence. They aren't wild-eyed
radicals, either, just very ordinary-seeming folks when they have
clothes on. They often don't admit, even to close friends, that they
really like not wearing clothes.

Because, in most "advanced" societies, the taboos around nudity are even
stronger than those around sex. People in casual conversation or on
national televison may happily ramble on about the details of their sex
life. Nudists have generally not been so open, even though by
conservative estimates, several million people in North America enjoy
certain kinds of recreation (like swimming) in the nude, or simply like
being naked when at home.

This secretiveness is changing, however. People have been talking about
recreational nudity on the rec.nude newsgroup for many years. (It was
one of the first newsgroups in the early days of Usenet, because
computer people seem to be likelier than average to enjoy nudity.) And
now many personal Web pages are appearing, announcing the owner's
interest in nudism and candidly advocating its advantages over "clothes
compulsiveness". I keep pretty good track of this, since one goal of my
pages is to catalog all the Web sites - around 500 of them - that have
something of interest to people who like to be naked. It's now quite
easy to meet nudists on the Web if you want to fathom why anyone would
rather not wear clothes.

What do nudists put on their Web sites? Occasional pictures - generally
the kind only family and friends could like - very disappointing to porn
hounds. Stories about adventures au naturel. But often: essays that try
to explain Why. Nudists feel they've been badly misunderstood by
mainstream society.

With some justification. Misinformation in mainstream media often
receives the blame for the taboo on nudity. For instance, many nudists,
prefer to be called "naturists", and they refer to their philosophy as
"naturism" rather than "nudism" - because being naked is natural. We
were born that way. The underlying philosophy is acceptance of the body
just as it is.

One of the two main nudist organizations in the U. S. is known as The
Naturist Society (
http://www.naturist.com). Yet most outsiders have
never heard of the terms "naturist" and "naturism". If they have, the
assumption is of having to do with watching birds or collecting bugs,
confusing "naturists" with "naturalists". Also, naturists never refer to
places where they gather as "colonies". "Parks", "camps", or "resorts",
please. The American Association for Nude Recreation
(http://www.aanr.com)
wants to emphasize the recreational connotations
of these latter words.

In fact, naturists have in the last few decades been able to enjoy the
outdoors in public (though usually remote) beaches, rivers, and forests.
Word about the best places to go, or to avoid, spreads rapidly over the
Net. This has led to a predictable backlash from the "family values"
crowd, who have mounted an aggressive effort to stamp out nudity
everywhere. Such people would be astonished to learn that there are many
conservative religious folks who like to be naked with others, and see
no conflict between that and their religion. Religious naturists even
have their own organizations and Web pages.

But most irritating to naturists is the mainstream tendency to confuse
nudity with sex. Adult naturists enjoy sex as much as anyone else, but
that isn't the reason they like not wearing clothes. What they do like
is the comfort, relaxation, stress reduction, and feeling of freedom
that being naked offers, as well as the camaraderie and openness they
find in socialing with others of similar mind.

Most of the problems that naturists have to contend with stem from this
misconception that naturism is a sexual interest. It incurs the wrath of
conservative religionists, it deters families and body-conscious young
adults from participating, and it attracts people whose interest
actually is sexual. On the Net, this confusion has hampered networking
among naturists. Yahoo! usually ignores requests to add naturist sites
to their index. Excite classifies nudist sites as an "X- & R-rated
Subtopic", along with prostitution and strip joints. This is badly
mistaken, but Excite has ignored protests. Some other search engines
don't even index nudist sites because "nudism" is assumed to be a code
word for sexual content.

In spite of such problems, naturism, as a lifestyle and a philosophy, is
definitely coming out of the closet, thanks in part to the Net. So it's
no longer difficult to find people who like to talk about just why
naturism deserves not to remain a well-kept secret.